Composite sandwich panels, comprising two skins sandwiching between them a core structure (such as honeycomb core) is an efficient structural building block used in aerospace and other fields. For instance, nacelles which house the gas turbine engines on a common commercial transport airplane use composite sandwich panels to form the inner barrel of the inlet, the inner fixed structure of the thrust reverser, and the translating sleeve (of a translating sleeve type thrust reverser). When a component is made of composite sandwich panels, its weight and other properties may be optimized by varying the type of core and number and direction of composite plies in the skins according to the strength and other requirements in a given section of the component. Varying the number of plies may vary the thickness, stiffness and strength of the skins. A ply drop is the term used to describe where a ply ends and does not continue across a contiguous area of skin. When several plies are to be dropped, the ply drops are staggered to avoid a large discontinuity. However, stress concentrations and possible disbonds to the core structure due to the discontinuity remain as problems to be addressed.